1. GKN
Year in Industry
2013-2014
ENGINEERING
for the future
Contents:
Company Overview 2
Student Reports:
Joe Inglefield 3
Arka Mitra 4
Lyne$e Hooper 5
Joe Corden 6
Henry Jackman-Day 7
Special Thanks 8

2. GKN Overview
GKN Is a global engineering group—with technologies and
products that are at the heart of vehicles and aircra3 produced
by the worlds leading manufacturers. GKN operates in four
business sectors: Automo ve, Powder Metallurgy, Land Sys-
tems and Aerospace.
Land Systems
Autostructures
GKN Autostructures specialises in the design, development and manufacture of
pressed steel, structural assemblies, modules and chassis systems for the auto-
mo7ve market.
• Design capability from the concept to produc7on
• Extensive tes7ng facili7es for sta7c and dynamic tes7ng
• Full chassis, sub frames, car cross beam, non-driven axles, suspension
arms and cast wheels.
Wheels
At GKN wheels, manufacturing facili7es encompass a proud heritage of wheel
making, backed with mul7-million pound investments in mul7-piece wheel
manufacturing. With five global manufacturing loca7ons in the UK, Denmark,
Italy, United States and China, GKN Wheels engineer and supply off highway
wheels to a diverse customer por>olio.
Automo ve
Driveline
As a global business serving the worlds leading vehicle manufacturers, GKN
Driveline develops, builds and supplies an extensive range of automo7ve
driveline systems—for use in the smallest ultra low-cost car to the most
sophis7cated premium vehicle demanding complex driving dynamics.
GKN Driveline is a leading global producer of CVJ Systems, AWD Systems, Trans
Axle Solu7ons and eDrive Systems.
Joe Inglefield
GKN Land Systems, Telford
University of Leicester- Undergraduate
BEng, Mechanical Engineering with Industry
joe_inglefield@yahoo.co.uk
Throughout my Year In Industry I have been have been placed at the GKN Structures site in Telford, working within the Ad-
vanced Engineering Department. The department primarily consists of three areas, Design, Analysis and Test; all of which I
have been involved with at some point or another over the course of my placement. The main func7on of the department is
to design, develop and verify new and exis7ng products for the Automo7ve and Off-Highway sector, u7lising high-end model-
ling and analysis so3ware, as well as sophis7cated test rig equipment and measuring instrumenta7on.
My main func7on at GKN has been in a design capacity; helping to design concepts to compete for new business from cus-
tomers, as well as rig fixturing and guarding for the test area. However, with such a wide variety of ac7vi7es going on in the
department I have had many opportuni7es to get involved in a array of interes7ng projects. Here are a few examples of the
projects I have worked on:
Morgan Swing Arm: We were approached by the Bri7sh luxury car manufacturer Morgan to do a redesign of the rear swing
arm on their iconic 3 Wheeler vehicle; the main aim being to reduce the cost of the product, as well as the mass. My concept
(above, le3), hit both of these criteria, and I have subsequently entered the project into the Contribu7on to the Business
Award.
GE Jenbacher: I was tasked with designing an innova7ve new concept frame for GE to mount their Jenbacher generator en-
gines on, with the aim of reducing the cost and allowing for very 7ght tolerances to be achieved. My concept was innova7ve
as it split the frame into modules, allowing for 7ghter tolerances on assembly, as well as more efficient shipping.
GKN Hybrid Power: GKN has recently received government backing for a project to develop buses with hybrid flywheel tech-
nology on-board, helping to increase fuel efficiency. This is a technology which is being developed on site at Telford, and I
was privileged enough to be invited down to London for 3 weeks to help with the prototype tes7ng and instrument monitor-
ing.
Other notable experiences include gaining my Fork Li3 Truck driving qualifica7on, a$ending courses in ‘Robust Engineering
Design’ and ‘Management and Leadership’, as well as becoming a STEM ambassador and mentoring a group of local 6th form
students in a project for the EES, (Engineering Educa7on Scheme).
My 7me at GKN has been extremely beneficial, and I have gained a great deal from it. I have developed as a person, by im-
proving my communica7on and organisa7onal skills, as well as a professional, by gaining invaluable experience of industry
and securing future employment on the GKN Driveline European Graduate Leadership Program.
ThankstoDenisEvans,BachrunMason,DaveBarber,AlanHinds,RoyWakeman,JamieDobsonandeveryoneelsewhohasmadethisyearsoworthwhile.

3. Arka Mitra
GKN Land Systems Telford - Informa on Technology
NoOngham Trent University - Undergraduate
BSc (Hons), Computer Science
Arka2k8@gmail.com
During my Year In Industry , I was part of the IT team at GKN Land Systems site based in Telford. My main role was
providing IT support to the en7re Telford site which consists of several Land Systems sub divisions: GKN Autostruc-
tures, Chassis Systems Limited and GKN Wheels.
Day to Day Job
The majority of my 7me was spent providing IT support to users at GKN Telford site. Providing IT support to such a
big site was challenging: I felt 7me management, job priori7sa7on and effec7ve user interac7on were key ingredi-
ents that allowed me to tackle such a big responsibility. Jobs ranged from simple fixes to complex issues which re-
quired high level of analysis and problem solving.
During my placement I was lucky enough to use automated network inventory and great asset management tools
such as Microso3 Ac7ve Directory and Lansweeper.
This job has given me the opportunity to understand the organisa7on culture that is followed with in GKN and how
each individual department interacts with each other and how they play such an important role in the success of the
company.
Other Ac vi es
I have had the opportunity to get involve with various activities throughout the year:
♦ Social ac7vi7es such as Ten Pin bowling, Go Kar7ng and Clubbing with various colleagues.
♦ I a$ended a Business Management course at University of Birmingham. I gained a range of skills from this
course such as communica7ng effec7vely using body language, 7me management and leadership skills.
Conclusion
I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship at GKN, I have gained lots of self-confidence, motivation, new skills and
valuable knowledge over the past year and I am confident that these will prove to be priceless in the future and
hence I would like to highly recommend the Year In Industry scheme to other pre-university and undergraduate stu-
dents.
I would like to thank Paul McGee, Lisa Dawson, Dave Evans, Dave Crawford, Dave Brewer, Brian Morris, Graham Goodhall, Iain
Hodgkinson and Paul Sturmey for giving me the opportunity to complete the year and for all the help they have given me during
this time. I would also like to thank my YINI mentor Denis Evans for all the opportunities he has given to me.
Lyne/e Hooper
GKN Autostructures Telford– Purchasing & Sales
Pre-University
Commercial Appren7ce
Lyne$e.Hooper@GKN.com
During my Year In Industry I worked for GKN Autostructures in both the Purchasing and Sales department.
This allowed me to gain valuable experience and skills in two different aspects of business.
For the Purchasing Department I have worked on a number of projects aimed at achieving cost savings.
One way I did this was through benchmarking; this involved sending out enquiries to suppliers, then colla7ng the
quotes received into a spreadsheet comparing current prices against new. I then worked out the poten7al cost
savings using an es7mated volume based on the previous year usage reports. This was a par7cularly difficult task
as I was given a incredibly short deadline as the current supplier went into liquida7on. I’ve also done a lot of da-
ta analysis; one major project was based on a contractor that works on our site. By liaising with security we were
able to compare hours booked against invoices received discovering that we had been over charged. From a se-
ries of nego7a7ons over payments have been repaid and a more formal contract has been wri$en.
In addi7on to my 7me with Purchasing, I have also been working closely with the Sales department. I have
a number of responsibili7es such as; raising enquiries for poten7al business, this normally involves liaising with
the customer. I’m also in charged of the Sales Forecast which is a key driver for financial forecas7ng within the
business, I gather this informa7on from schedules received from our customers. My 7me here has also consisted
of customer visits to Leyland Trucks, Gordon Murray Design, JCB and Ingimex gaining awareness of the variety of
products we are able to manufacture. I have also been a GKN representa7ve at a JCB supplier conference to dis-
cuss a bid for government funding to improve automo7ve supply chain compe77veness. Recently I’ve had to
collect informa7on for a JLR Audit on tools da7ng back to 2011, this meant I had to liaise greatly with the Finance
department which I enjoyed as it gave me another insight into the business. As well as that I have been doing a
lot of market research specifically into the Agricultural sector for poten7al business. Through this and capitalis-
ing on the market knowledge that exists elsewhere in the GKN group I put together a list of poten7al customers
a colleague and myself aim to contact.
I have greatly enjoyed my 7me at GKN and look forward to my future here as an appren7ce. I would thoroughly
recommend the Year in Industry program to anyone as it has given me a big step up in life as well as allowing
me to benefit from a number of courses such as Management Training at Birmingham University.
Special thanks to Denis Evans and the Year and Industry Team. I would also like to thank Duncan Varnes ,David Ha-on, Dar-
ren Dobson, Kevin Tellwright, Mark Duff, Sean Worrall, Henry Sarel-Cooke, Ade Stone, Yvonne Millman, Karen Wallace, Gem-

4. Joe Corden
GKN Wheels Telford– Produc on Engineer
Pre-University
Brunel University-Engineering
joemarshcorden@gmail.com
I spent my year at GKN Wheels, part of the Land Systems division of GKN in Telford. My job role was a pro-
duc7on engineer. Day to day jobs were to look at ShopWare, check any down 7mes or tool changes that
occurred the day before, enquire about them and see if there was anything I could design to reduce these
breakdowns and tool changes.
The first big project I worked on was to help a group of four girls from Newport Girls High School to design
and build an airblade and mount to reduce pi$ed joints on the Scriven rim line. When a rim is rolled and
welded together bits of dross from the weld would be clamped into the rim at the burr shear sec7on of the
rim line. The burr shear cuts off the excess weld that is le3 by the welder. A3er the rim has been welded it
moves to the burr shear sec7on where it is clamped into posi7on, these bits of dross are clamped into the
rim which causes holes in the rim which our customers will reject, cos7ng the company £40000 a year. With
the help of David Eadon, an engineer at GKN Wheels, and the four girls from Newport Girls High School, we
were able to successfully design a prototype of the airblade and mount that would then be implemented
into the line at GKN.
The second project I worked on was to design and implement a boring mill fixture for one of the cells at
GKN that weld discs into the rim of a wheel. A boring mill cuts the discs down to size so they are a good fit
into the rim to be welded. The boring mill needed to be mul7-func7onal to be able to cut discs and flanges
for all the different types of wheels we make at GKN. The boring mill has four pneuma7c cylinders that
needed to be fixed to the boring mill. My job was to design these fixture so the cylinder wouldn't move out
if place, also I had the job of designing the clamps that would clamp down the flanges so they would not
move out of place when being cut. I was successfully able to design the fixtures and clamps for the boring
mill and the mill is currently in the process of being implemented onto the cell.
Overall my 7me at GKN Wheels has been an eye opening experience! Being able to see how a company
runs and what actual engineering entails has confirmed my choice for engineering at Brunel University has
been the decision!
I would like to say thank you to everyone at GKN Wheels who have made my year the best it could be, with
special thanks to all the engineers including: Dave, Bobby, Simon, Ray, John! Also many thanks to Andy, Ar-
nie and all the maintenance lads! And a big thank you to all the YINI people including Joe Inglefield, Lyne-e
Hooper, Arka Mitra and Denis Evans!
Thank you for a great year!
Henry Jackman-Day
GKN Driveline Birmingham - Global Engineering
Coventry University - Undergraduate
BEng, Motorsport Engineering
dayh2@uni.coventry.ac.uk
During my year in industry I worked as a Test Engineer within the Global Engineering department of GKN Driveline.
Being based in the PTA department meant I was working closely with a team of four other Test Engineers and four
Test Technicians.
Over my 12 months placement at GKN Driveline I worked on various projects;
Main projects
X-trac tulip design
During my placement I managed to get involved with GKN Motorsport, I was assigned a project that involved the
redesign and manufacture of a new inboard joint alongside X-trac for the R5 rally car.
Test reports
Became competent at producing test reports for JLR, Nissan, SAIC, Toyota, Honda and many more.
Vehicle Test & Analysis (VTA)
I spent a couple of weeks with VTA working at MIRA fiOng instrumenta7on and using data analysis and acquisi7on
inves7ga7ng problem reported by JLR.
Tested Parts Stores
Throughout the year I was managing a project that involved the tested parts stores moving to a new loca7on, this
involved completely redesigning the database and reducing costs where possible. The work I have done has been
used in company plans and has a predicted cost saving of £21,000 per annum.
Rig Tes7ng
In the first 3 months I spent my 7me with the Test Technicians in the rig shop, learning failure analysis, rig program-
ming, test structure and tes7ng methods.
Overall my 7me at GKN has taught me a countless number of skills that are transferable into my future career
path.
With thanks to everyone at the EDT and my colleagues at GKN for the past year, with special thanks to Dave Fenton, the Test
Engineers, the Test Technicians and Denis Evans

5. With thanks to:
GKN plc for giving us the chance to par7cipate.
Denis Evans MBE, Regional Coordinator for The Year In Industry Scheme, for
his considerable support and enthusiasm.
All Directors, Managers, Mentors and Colleagues at the various GKN plants
and Corporate Centre for their guidance and understanding.
All the Team of The Engineering Development Trust at Birmingham Universi-
ty for all their help, encouragement and support.
Editor:
Lyne$e Hooper